Relic Tales (now with illustrations by TLG)

[Tails]

I'm expecting a big funeral scene sometime down the road.

[Archangel of Death]

:evil: Uberkid p4wning foos. :duck:

[the_living_god]

The Sleeping God sleeps... but for how long?

Sly, very sly... Contrary to popular belief I do have social life. Don't worry, i'm still working on more pictures.

Nice couple of chapters, by the way.

[EarthBorn]

Duck!??

Let the sleeping god arise...

[Locutus]

Let the sleeping god arise...

You would summon Sorak? The legendary First Admin has slept long...

Who doth dare to disturb his slumber? Whyfore must He be awakened?

[General Nuke Em]

Did you know that Uberkid is a girl?

[BrianGeneral]

The lasers burned through their fleet, then the planets behind that fleet, then the next galaxy.

Ideon Gun!? LOL.

ps.I'm still not in the story......I feel sad

[Void]

Well...he didn't say Uberboy(daaamn), just Uberkid :/

[EarthBorn]

Locutus, it has long been said that in the times of dire need, thy will of Sorak shall be done...

(OK, that was crappy)

[Lestaki]

I do recall that halfway through writing this I thought- erm, is Uberkid a boy or a girl? *sighs*

Yeah, I meant to do that. How dare you challenge my artistic ability?! :umm:

And I apologise in advance for projecting my own ignorance onto you guys...
***
"Oh mods, here they come AGAIN!" The Fifth Elephant screamed. The Trolls loped down the corridor, their fur matted with flames. Uberkid raised his gun to fire...

and the trigger fell on a spent magazine. "Newb!" Uberkid screamed, throwing the useless weapon down and taking a stance. Dj leapt forwards and grabbed him, dragging the screaming kid into cover.

"Hey, you can't just fight these things," Dj said. "You might get hurt."

Uberkid glared at him. "Newb! I no mo fo."

"Just stay there, there's a good boy."

"Gurl! Imma gurl!" Uberkid screamed angrily.

"What?" asked Dj tempoarily derailed.

"Imma gurl," Uberkid snapped. "Only stopid people'd think I was a boy. lol"

Dj blinked, which gave her all the chance she needed. He doubled over, clutching his nose, as she exploded from cover and rocketed over the heads of the cowering vets, smashing burtally into the first troll. The flames licked but did not burn as the Trolls came under a diminutive, furious and professional attack, Uberkid moving faster than they eye could follow, sending the Trolls into hopeless collapse. Then it was over, another corridor secure.

"Newbs," she said with a tone of finality.

Dj forced himself up. "Fifth!" he hissed. "He's a girl!"

"What?"

"Uberkid. Is. A. Girl."

"Really?" The Fifth Elephant asked.

Dj shrugged. "He says so."

"So, let me get this straight," Fifth said purposefully. "The kid who held us at grenade point, blew down a door, hacked the elevator codes, killed over fifty trolls with a blazing lockgun and another three in close combat, while protecting our sorry asses, is a girl?"

"Yeah," Dj said.
***
"Newbs!" she shouted, bouncing up and down. "Hurries!"

"We're coming! Can't we catch our breath a sec?" Dj asked plaintively.

"Noes! We are close!" Uberkid bounded off down the corridor at high speed. The taskforce grumbled and followed, then they turned the corner and slowed, as a whole army of trolls came into view, tearing down a massive steel door...
***
"You'll never take this place," Delphy whispered. "Not if you try for a thousand years."

You'll... still... be dead.

The hammering was getting louder, getting closer. And he couldn't dispute that last point. "Sandras, it doesn't have to be this way! Can't you remember? You used to love this place!"

Who's... Sandras?

Delphy collapsed. "Conciousness fragmentation," he moaned. "You knew, you of all people. You knew what would happen if you merged with the Core. Why did you do this?"

The answer came quickly and fluently- the one thing she could remember. Vengence.

Now he could hear the shrieks of the trolls, the sound of his death. "They're coming," Delphy whispered.
***
"Newbs!" Uberkid leapt into motion, bouncing furiously between targets. Even as the Trolls desperately tried to spot where on earth this new attack was coming from, the Homeworlders opened up, Dj forcing himself to keep calm as his voice barked the orders to fire. Then the Trolls turned, screamed and charged, flaming furiously. Only a Banstick could...

Dj's head snapped down, pulling the spare shell off his belt. "Fifth, do you have your launcher?"

The Fifth Elephant shook his head. "Sorry. We used it as a prop when the second crushing cealing came down, remember?"

"Oh, right," Dj said gloomily. "Improvisaton time." He primed the shell and threw it bodily into the mass of the crowd. Uberkid spotted it in an instant and slapped the trigger in mid-air, leaping clear herself...
***
The Singularity! Sandras' fractured mind crowed. It's happening! The computers whined and powered down as the very pillars of the Spire shaked, trembling from base to pinnacle. Delphy's attuned mind could feel the power surge underneath the mountain. And he knew it was over.
***
the shell exploded with light. And it was finished. "Owned," Uberkid said in satisfaction.

"Yeah," Dj said. "Now how do we get through the doors?"

Uberkid screamed and charged...
***
There was a finallity to the crash. Delphy looked at Sandras' gloating final message. Now I will be immortal. And now you die.

Delphy said nothing, simply standing and waiting as the reinforced doors were blown backwards off their hinges.

"Newb! Lordnmasta!" Uberkid burbled, running forwards and saluting.

Delphy stared at the party, and was suddenly galvanized. "There's still time!" he snapped.

"For what?" Dj asked in puzzlement. "What the heck is going on?"

Delphy talked fast. "A while ago, Moe killed a King Troll with His Sword. I don't know the Troll's name," he lied "but it was very powerful. The Sword sufficed, however. Unfortunately, the conciousness of the Troll was not destroyed, but instead was bound deep within the blade. His Sword and the Sleeping Gods are the Forums. That conciousness is now an integeral, ruling part of our systems, wanting only destruction." Again, not quite true. "We have to go to the Beneath. We don't have much time. That's our only chance."

Dj shrugged uncertainly. "But... us? We're just..."

Delphy snapped. "Go! We have to! Now!"

Uberkid raced up Delphy and sat on his head, in some satisfaction, perched like a diminutive budda. "Newbs! Goes!" They went.

[Stealthlazer]

How dare dj ask to stop?! Uberkid has it right, newb!

[EarthBorn]

Amusing to see Delphy scared .

Please don't kill me Delphy!!!

[Unk]

/me is surprised that there hasn't been any leetspeek yet.

[Dj]

"So, let me get this straight," Fifth said purposefully. "The kid who held us at grenade point, blew down a door, hacked the elevator codes, killed over fifty trolls with a blazing lockgun and another three in close combat, while protecting our sorry asses, is a girl?"

That's hillarious, yet saddening at the same time.. :P

[Tails]

Beneath?

[deadguy]

Lestaki, figure out what you want to call the thread and leave it.

[Lestaki]

I change the title every time I do a new episode... fine.

Edit: I just noticed that This Thread his been Vaulted. So, as ever, Tails is on the money, and I am writing my small tribute to Murph. I didn't really know him- just a moderator I saw around, but when I read that he had died, I was horrified that once of us, one of our own, could actually die. And to die at that age is just plain wrong. So here it is.
***
Silence. You remembered that. The silence, Moe reflected later. As a loving parent of the forums, so to speak, he often despaired of the place entirely, when trolls seemed to be around every corner and nothing seemed sacred. But in that place, at that time, there seemed to be hope for them, that so many were there. So silent.

Every moderator was there, in their smartest black-dress uniform, that uniform they normally despised. Every admin was there. Dyntheos lead the way, Darkblade on one side, and this once, His Sword on the other, their guardian, leading the solemn
procession through the lofty, silent chambers that lead to the Vault. They bore the coffin silently forwards, as Reki and Soul strode purposefully forwards and opened the huge, black doors.

Delphy had done considerable coding to rewrite a suitable place for Murph to be laid at rest. Right at the front of the Vault, in an airy room with light falling dead center. All who come here to learn of our past... will learn of this first of all. Delphy himself was here, and Moe tried to remember the last time he had seen the Admin outside the Spire. A long time ago, he knew.

They placed the coffin in its place, at the highest point of the tomb. Dyntheos nodded, and they withdrew smartly, standing stiffly in front of the wordless crowd. Dyn himself stayed, head bowed, silent for so long that Moe thought he was completely abstracted. Then he looked up. "It's not mine to say what comes after death," Dyn said softly. "But Murph deserves whatever heaven does exist, and more. I will say this, however. He was a great friend of us all, a dedicated Homeworlder, a valued member of our IRC regulars, a fine moderator, one of us in everything he did, an integeral member of our community. He was one of our brightest." Dyn's voice sunk again, and then came back stronger. "He will live in," he said finally. "In all of us, in our memories of him, the things he did for us, what he was, in the institution, for as long as it exists. He will not die. Who he was and what he gave to the world will live on. And today we lay those memories in eternal preservation, so that all who follow, too, will remember. We will remember."

Dyn turned to the tomb. "Rest in peace, friend, we loved and love you." He bowed his head, and walked away. One by one people went to pay their respects. Moe looked around him. Yes. In us, he will live on.

[Robert Frazer]

Lestaki, figure out what you want to call the thread and leave it.

Oh, don't be a curmudgeonly killjoy, deadguy.

[deadguy]

I'm dead. What other kind of killjoy would I be?

If he's going to change it, I'd rather he leave the "Relic Tales - " part alone, so people can find it more easily.

[Tails]

So, wait, after that epic battle with the Huge Postcount, no one was injured or taken captive? Shouldn't there be some grizzly interrogation and/or attempted rescue mission?

[the_living_god]

[the_sidewinder]

I swear I have no idea where it came from, my GF must've put it there!

[the_living_god]

DeepChrome

[Chrome]

That's cute, and great at the same time. I love how you gaev me all these weapons. I look like a female Jayne.

[Lestaki]

Tails once again confounds me. Damn you Tails, always spotting my plot holes! So I'll take your idea and run with it.

Anyways, we return to our normal surreal programming...
***
"Good job, Squid!" Goblin 56 said.

"Yeah, you're the man Squiddy," Trollbait said in agreement. "When we were charged by fifty thousand enemy players with Swords of Sanitation and you assembled a submachine gun and gunned them all down! Yeah, man!"

"It was nothing," Squid said modestly. "I just used the materials we had available."

"And your warcry," Gob went on. "So cool. For Science!" he paused a second. "What does it mean, anyway? Some kind of God?"

Squid frowned. "Never mind. I've gotta be at HQ anyway, Maria wants me."

"Sure thing, Admiral. Catch ya later."

Squid DNA frowned as he strode to the bridge, noticing that his resolve was lessening with every step. Okay, so they'd invaded us. And they're all trolls. But now we have invaded them in a far different way, which is almost worse. This wasn't their style. And once you started fighting with them, you almost understood. It wasn't like he ever thought about the enemy when he came up with the latest grand plan...

Squid snapped out of his introspection as he walked past Dyntheos, who frowned and saluted grimly, and onto the bridge.
***
Maria was there, leaning over the tac map and staring at it. "Squid, good of you to come. We make good progress- our enemies are scattered. If we strike back now, the Cherubim should be able to complete our domination. And the forums are improving steadily- the so-called Ioncannon method seems to be quite effective."

Squid DNA saluted, nodding slightly to Moe, who nodded back. "I am glad we are achieving sucsess, madam."

"Yes. Soon. Soon."

Squid nodded, walking obliquely towards Moe. "When's zero hour?" Moe hissed.

"Not yet," Squid whispered back, glad that Maria was distracted.
"We aren't ready, yet."

"The longer we wait, the more danger we are in. You know that."

Squid shrugged. "Where on earth would she find out? She thinks I'm the lone survivor of the Arbiter's attack. You guys are just my friends that happen to have some mod skills."

Moe frowned. "I don't know. I don't like it."

Squid looked up, and found that the Silent Arbiter was watching them again. That was happening more and more. Squid didn't like it.

"And get on with your mission," Moe completed, walkign away.

"Easy for you to say," Squid muttered. He tentatively approached her, staring at the back of her neck as he wondered who to begin. Excuse me, but would you mind roleplaying some sexual tension between us? seemed to lack a certain subtlty.

As it was, she turned to face him first, smiling. "Squid, come with me please. I have something to show you."
***
Through the vaulty chambers of the mountain, and down an elevator. A long way down. As the silence between them grew, Squid forced himself to remain calm. She didn't know, she couldn't know. You are just a renegade to her.

"Tell me about the battle," she said finally. "For your forums."

"I don't want to talk about it," Squid replied.

"Why?"

"It was a massacre. Everyone died."

Maria shrugged. "You inflicted heroic casualties on the Arbiter's forces, though."

Squid forced himself to keep calm. "What does that mean? They still died." And people had died, it wasn't all lies. But there hadn't been the time or place for burial, for anything but a desperate strike back. This strike back. one chance to topple Alakhazam's centralised strength. Or we lose. He had to remember that.

"Perhaps. But you were lucky, Squid."

"Lucky?"
***
They entered a dark, narrow room. "Lucky, Squid. Not everyone died, apparently." She gestured and the lights turned on. Squid nearly collpased on the spot.

Glaring up at them, barely recognisable, was Tails. Burns covered his entire body, the black calcine which Squid had come to associate with trollfire. He was tied up and gagged, trussed to a pillar with other ropes attached. With a feeling of inevitability, Squid walked around, and saw others. VOID, Earthborn, nurizeko, all persumed missing, thought dead. Looking at their pain, death might have been an improvement.

"How did this happen?" Squid whispered.

Maria frowned. "Yesterday, the Unimportant Soverign limped into dock, and its Captain Ashatt told a quite different story. Something about a hacked battlefleet, a boarding action against an enemy cruiser, in which these pathetic specimines of lowlife were captured, an ultimate defeat, and a disordered withdrawl in the face of an overwhelming Relic Forums victory. Quite a different story."

"He was lying," Squid replied as best he could. He licked his lips. "Dignifying the damage to his ship, perhaps. I'll look into it."

"Of course he was lying," Maria replied easily. "But nonetheless, I took the precaution of having these people tortured. Unfortunately, they have been suprisingly resistant to my methods."

Squid looked into Tail's eyes. Of course. They didn't know the cover the story, the infiltration, they didn't know what the hell was going on. So they weren't saying anything. That would kill them. "I see," he replied heavily.

"So I want you to do it," she completed, eyes glittering. "I want their account of the battle, how they came to survive. Mo fo has time and agin proven to be more effective than flames. Use it. Now."

"We don't torture people," Squid said grimly.

"I do. Do it!"

Squid's shoulders slumped and he stepped forwards. Then he span round and kicked out, following up with a storm of blows.

But Maria had been ready. "Not unexpected, Squid DNA," she gasped, blocking the strikes before drawing her sword and raising it. "You are so predictable." She lashed out, blurring as she struck him between the eyes with the flat of her blade, knocking him unconcious.
***
To be continued... and the thing with Delphy and stuff too.

[Tails]

Damn, that is trippy!

[the_living_god]

Merry Christmas! Assuming you celebrate it.

[Dj]

/me asks in a meek, yet evil voice...

Can you draw meh? :P

[the_living_god]

okay, what would you like to look like?

[Dj]

A Ninja, with a katana... lol

Sorry I'm not more descriptive.. But I find it's best to let drawers, writers etc.. think up the details, since they know what looks best.

[Tails]

Hmmm....

Dj would be tall and pale, with long dirty blond hair. His garments would include an ornate robe (not too ornate) and a large belt, upon which he would attach many accessories to aid his Uberleet ninja skills. Upon his back would be an especially long katana (maybe that's not a katana at all, I'd have to ask Bnonn what you'd call that). Dj would have a thin face with a bright smile. He'd also have cut arm muscles , but thin legs.

[BrianGeneral]

Ah nice, thanks TLG.

[Dj]

Dj would be tall and pale, with long dirty blond hair.

Did you see my picture, or something?

[Warmaster Death]

I AM NOW IMMORTAL!!!!

thanks man, the pictures brilliant, it is now my desktop background.

i must say, the beard is liflelike, as a 16 nyear old with a *fluffy* Beard, its perfect.

including the small feet! :yippee: :yippee:

[Locutus]

Crap! My friend Squiddie is in trouble.

/me jumps into his private yacht, engages invincibility and uber-ion cannon, plus various miscallaneous (including polka-dot goats) hacks.

Shhhh. You never saw that DJ.

TO THE RESCUE

[Dj]

You should've jumped into the Goat Throwing Viking Ship.... You fail, Locutus.

[Lestaki]

Glad to see my gang is here in full strength. Nice avatar, Loc. Now I can tell you are a man... and TLG has been impressive as ever. Can you add Uberkid to your burgeoning workload?

Anyways, we are once again (apologies!) taking a break from the normal continuem of our stories, for a quick and irrelevant one-off. Look, it's Christmas, ok? You are lucky to be getting one at all. I doubt you will be around to read it, either.

Merry Christmas and stuff too.
***
"Delphy, we are running out of time. We have to stop this, here and now," Dyn said, leaning over his desk.

"It isn't that simple. I don't know why or how- we'll find that out later. But this directive has been routed into the core programming. It's well-defended, too." Delphy took a deep breath, the rythm of his keystrokes faltering for a precious instant. "Very well-defended."

"Too well-defended?" Dyn aksed grimly.

There was a pause. "I am afraid that might be the case," Delphy admitted. "In any case I am running out of time, too fast."

"Modsdamn it. So, we're all going to have to put on bizzare red clothing, take huge sacks of relic goodies, leap into our ninja-pirate alliance goat throwing viking sleighs of doom, and bring presents to a sleeping forums... again?"

Five... four... "Afraid so. Except for Qwaar-jet, who gets broken EA games. Again."... two... one. Zero. Spontaneously, snow began to fall. Inside the modsdamn command centre!
Really modawful Christmas music was playing over the speakers too. And now, while the forums slept, the mods would get no rest, wonders to work.

Delphy smirked. Could he hack or could he hack?

[AMARDA]

This is good, now I don't know half of theses people or forums. I think I need to get out more.

[Bnonn]

Dj's sword would not be unusually long. Katanas or wakazashis are sensible weapons for a ninja. Using something longer like a tachi is not feasible as they can't be easily drawn from a scabbard on the back, and wearing a side-scabbard is not conducive to sneaking. Further, ninjas do very little premeditated, sword-distance dueling; they rely on the element of surprise, and when faced with a longer weapon, would try to close to a more suitable range.

[Tails]

It's settled then.

[Moe]

I'm still waiting for my hot female sidekick. :d

[Retroboy]

Well, it IS Christmas, Moe...

-- Retro

[the_living_god]

Use DeepChrome, or steal Loctus' Valkyrie.

Retro:

[Chrome]

Ten gets you one he picks the Valkyrie< TLG. What mod wants to be teamed up with a Makaan-loving gun-toting nutcase of a babe who looks like Jayne's sister?!

[the_living_god]

If she's a babe, I don't think the mod's would care how many guns she has, It might be safer to go with the Valkyrie, though.

Just posting to say that I won't be active as i'm going on holidays for a week as of tomorrow. Ciao.

[Tails]

I'm still waiting for my hot female sidekick. :d

Be careful what you wish for, Moe.

[Moe]

TLG: Uberkid is a GIRL. See uber's avatar for more details.

[the_living_god]

I know, I had drawn another picture, but all the image hosts were hating me.

[Lestaki]

Nice, now we need lockguns and grenades. Aw, ain't she cut- *bang bang bang* Hopefully, I now have a handle on the plot, so I'll write Moe a hot female sidekick, I suppose. That should applease him. But it wouldn't be Relic Tales if there wasn't a sting in the tail...
***
"Delphy, what the hell is happening?" Dj demanded, panting as he caught up.

"I explained it already," Delphy replied in exasperation.

"You did. I just didn't understand any of it."

Delphy forwned, ducking behind cover as a trio of DOW minions rounded the corner and opened fire. "All you need to know is that if you don't help me, we're all going to die. Can you fight?"

"Yeah, a little," Dj said, watching as Uberkid beat an Eldar fanboy to death with his own katana. "Not really. But you're an admin, aren't you? Can't you do that blurry slo-mo thing..."

"No. Not really. Dyn normally covered that aspect of the proceedings," Delphy admitted.

The Fifth Elephant screamed as a burning corpse sailed past them, then recovered. "You know, we were only really here for the Homeworld script..."

"If we don't win, you'll never get that script," Delphy snapped. "Because the whole place will be cleansed with flame. Not in a good-in-a-bad-way Nonny or Dyn way. In a WOW forums very-bad-indeed way. All the Homeworld mods being developed in RDN, all of Uberjumpers classified infomation, all the fiction DeepChrome wrote, whatever. It will all be equally vaporised." He sighed. They couldn't go on like this. They needed some motivation. "But I'll tell you one thing. Down below, in the Beneath, there are relics from the dawn of, well, Relic. An archive, a library of Homeworld scripts. There is even rumours that the place hides a legendary script of what might have been Homeworld Three."

"Homeowrld three? No way!" Dj shouted. "Come on, let's do this! Sajuuk!" Delphy frowned as the Homeworld taskforce exploded out of cover, screaming as they blasted a score of enemies off their feet. "Come on, Delphy! Don't hold us up," Dj said. Uberkid waddled up. It must have been the though of Homeworld three talking, but something moved Dj to pick her up, staring into her big, solemn eyes as she gurgled happily. "Ah, isn't she adorable. Aren't you? Aren't-"

"W'tch it, newb!"Uberkid unslung her lockgun in one fluid movement and fired. The bullet nicked Dj's ear as it lashed towards its target, plunging into the noob behind him. The look on Dj's face was priceless.

"Let's keep moving, Uberkid," Delphy said. She leapt off Dj's shoulders and waddled happily after him.

"Runin outa ammo," she warned. "No more armouries."

"I could make a new armoury," Delphy said. "If I had a modamn computer, which wasn't hacked. Mods, I hate this stuff. This what Dyn and Moe are good at. I shouldn't be doing this."

"N'time, newb."

"I know. I wonder how all the mods are doing," Delphy wondered.

"Spam'm tadeath," Uberkid said cheerfully. "We're here, newbs."

Dj looked at the huge dark room, then at the transparent floor. "An elevator?" he wondered out loud, looking down into a dark, gaping maw. "How far down does it go?"

"As far as there is to go," Delphy replied distractedly. "She won't place guards here. She wouldn't dare."

"What?"

"Everyone on! We're going all the way to the bottom."
***
"Ok, what's down there?" The Fifth Elephant asked as they slid downwards, the elevator gaining speed.

"Darkness, mostly," Delphy said. "Locked threads. Strata of the ages. Our relics, like I said. The fabled Big Mine of Explosionation, His Sword, the Spear of the Firstborn, all that jazz. What we should be worried about, I won't name. It will be dark. If it isn't, then we will be in deep trouble."

It was a long, silent descent. Finally, the elevator ground to a halt. "We're here," Dj said. "Which way is this library?"

"Save the forums, first," Delphy said irritably. "Library later."

"I can't believe we missed Christmas for this," JAL 18 muttered.

"Waddaya call a Homeworld three script?" Dj snapped. "That transends Christmas."

"Quiet, all of you," Delphy hissed. "Only talk if you have to."

"Yeah, :stfu: newbs."

"Is it me, or is Uberkid sounding more and more like your sergeant or something as time goes by?" Dj whispered.

There was a flash of blinding light, then nothing again. "Oh, crap," Delphy muttered. He broke into a run, Uberkid scrambling up his legs and sitting on his head again. "Hurry up!"

"What's the rush?" Dj asked.

"How many times do I have to tell you? This is the apocalypse!"

They ran headlong through the dark caves, low cealinged and scattered with ruin and junk. It was a maze, but Delphy moved through it with a definate purpose, and the rest followed. There was an occasional flash of light, which grew steadily more regular. They were running out of time. "What are we going to do when we get there?" Dj asked.

"You know, I have no fucking idea," Delphy shouted, on the verge of hysteria. "But we have to be there, damnit!" They charged out onto a wide pasage made of dirtied white marble, leading straight towards a temple-like building. Or tomblike. There was another flash, this one loaded with searing heat. Delphy sheltered Uberkid in his amrs and charged bodily, screaming as he ascended the stairs and crashed into the room...
***
It was huge, far bigger inside than out. Statues lined each wall, statues of fallen heroes. And two huge slabs of marble sat at the centre of the tomb. On top of them, two staues lay, one with spear and one with sword. Then Dj realised that they weren't stautes. They were people. And the sword was glowing, with black light.

"You can't have black light, bitch!" Delphy shouted.

Logic is nothing here. You are too late. The glow was crackling as it clawed up the hands that gripped the blade, one flesh, one steel. You can do nothing. Another flash of light, which brough them all to their knees.

"I won't let you!" Delphy screamed, forcing himself up. He sprinted for the other pedestal, snatching up the golden spear held there. "In His name!" He threw the golden weapon headlong, sinking it into the corrupted sword. The darkness quivered as if pinned, then fluttered as it faded.

But not as if to withdraw. As if glad, triumphant. You fool! Yes!

"No!" But it was too late. The spear leapt free and lashed across the room again, crackling with dark arcs, plunging into the chest of the Firstborn. This flash of light seared them, burning eyes and mind and soul a the figure ascended, melting and shifting as it was corrupted from angel to daemon.

"It is complete, the singularity has been achieved. And in your valour you have handed me an even greater prize. I will be immortal!" The figure raised a scorched, burning hand, bathing the room in a baleful light, face twisted into a scowl. "See how even your god has fallen. Sorak is no more. Only I am! And now- I will claim my kingdom. The Singularity laughed throatily, tearing upwards through rock as it blasted towards the heavens.
***
Delphy had folded up, kneeling and staring at the cretaure's tortured wake, his expression one of total despair. "I failed."

"Newbs! Hurries!"

"What?"

Uberkid pointed, and Delphy followed her gaze. Then he scrambled up, grasping His Sword and stumbling towards the tomb. He thrust it into the clutching metal hand and closed the fingers over it. "Oh, lord, hear your faithful servant, and awaken." Nothing moved. Delphy looked panicked. "My lord-"

"I am awake." The voice was suprisingly soft, as Pike sat up, turnign to face them. Most of his left side had been replaced with bionics, but robotic eye and human one both glowed with determination.

"My lord," Delphy whispered. "We have failed you..."

"No. It isn't over yet. It's only just begun."

[Bnonn]

At the risk of repeating myself, this is awsome.